What is the weapon of choice for criminals in countries with strict gun control laws?They use knives, lots and lots of knives November 01, 2017

Chronicle staff

(INTERNATIONAL) -- Take your pick. Would you rather be shot to death or knifed to death? Wounded with a bullet or wounded by some bad guy slashing your throat?

Not a great choice for sure but one that seems to be the reality these days depending on if you live in a country with easy access to guns or in a country with strict gun control laws.

In England, a country that has long had strict gun control laws, the bad guys have simply switched to knives to do their deeds.

In fact, in 2016 "there was a knife crime every 14 minutes across England and Wales" according to a new report in The Independent.

The report, published Tuesday says, "Knife crimes are rising across the country – but police forces are prosecuting fewer cases, according to new data."

The story says data obtained using Freedom of Information requests from 30 out of 43 police forces across England and Wales, obtained by BBC News, found that the number of knife crimes that led to perpetrators being charged or taken to court has fallen by 8 per cent from 2015 to 2016.

Items from the report:

.......London’s knife crime accounts for over a third of all such cases in England and Wales, with over 13,000 offenses. Over one year to June 2017, London-based knife crime grew by 34 per cent.

.......The news comes after several investigations into increasing moped crime in the capital. Police say the average age of "moped criminals" is just 15 years old.

.......In one year to September, there were more than 19,000 moped-related crimes in the capital, an average of 53 a day.